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Informationen zum Autor Tamora Pierce Klappentext Original publication and copyright date: 1988.Lioness Rampant 1 LIONESS FROM TORTALL O N A M ARCH AFTERNOON A KNIGHT AND A MAN -at-arms reached the gate of the Marenite city of Berat. The guards hid their smiles as they looked the noble over—in size the beardless youth could as well have been a squire, with only a shield to reveal his higher rank. They wondered aloud if the youngster could hold his lance, let alone unseat an opponent with it. Hearing them, the knight favored them with a broad grin. The guards, liking his reaction, fell silent. The man-at-arms gave a tug on their packhorse’s lead rein, and the small party moved through the gates into the city. Most nobles dressed richly, but this knight wore well-traveled leather, covered with a white burnoose like those worn by the Bazhir of the Tortallan desert. With the burnoose’s hood pushed back, everyone could see that the knight’s hair was copper, cut so it brushed his shoulders. His eyes were an odd purple shade that drew stares; his face determined. Before him, in a cup fixed to his mare’s saddle, rode a black cat. The man-at-arms was dressed like the knight. There were no grins for him—he was a burly, dark-haired commoner with no-nonsense eyes. It was he who asked directions to the inn called the Wandering Bard while the knight looked with interest at the streets around them. They set off in the direction of the inn, picking their way through the crowds with ease. The cat swiveled his head, looking up at the knight. They think you’re a boy. To most, his utterances sounded like those of any cat; to the few he chose, he spoke as plainly as a human. “Good,” the knight replied. “That’s less fuss over me.” Is that why you left your shield covered? “Be sensible, Faithful,” was the tart reply. “The shield’s covered because I don’t want it to get all over dust. It takes forever to clean it. This far south, who’d’ve heard of me?” The man-at-arms, who’d drawn level with them, grinned. “Ye’d be surprised. News has a way of travelin’.” The common room of the Wandering Bard was deserted except for the innkeeper, Windfeld, who was resting after the noon rush. He’d just begun his own meal when a stable boy charged in. “Y’want t’hurry, master,” the boy puffed, excited. “They’s a knight in th’yards—a Tortall knight!” “What of that?” Windfeld replied. “We’ve had knights at the Bard afore.” “Not a knight like this’un,” the boy announced. “This’un be a girl!” “Don’t joke with me, lad,” Windfeld began. Then he remembered. “That’s right. Sir Myles wrote me of the lass he adopted a year past. Said she went as a lad for years, as page and squire, till she was knighted. That was when our stables almost burned, and I didn’t pay his letter the attention I ought. What’s her shield?” “Shield’s a-covered,” was the reply. “But her man wears a pin like one. It’s red, with a gold cat a-rearin’ on it.” “That’s her—Alanna of Trebond and Olau, Sir Myles’s heir.” Windfeld got up, removing his apron to throw it on the table. “And with the Shang Dragon here already! It’s bound to be a good week. The stable-yard, you said?” Alanna of Trebond and Olau, sometimes called &l Zusammenfassung From Tamora Pierce, the final book in the Song of the Lioness Quartet, honored with the Margaret A. Edwards Award. Having achieved her dream of becoming the first female knight errant, Alanna of Trebond is not sure what to do next. She has triumphed in countless ...
